The filler episode continues as Naruto and the gang jump ship and swim to shore to catch up to Idate. However, the rain ninjas think they got our heroes in a trap since most of the Rain ninjutsus require water. So the rain ninjas proceed to drag Naruto down deep into the water, prompting Sasuke and Sakura to go after him. However, Sakura isn’t able to hold her breath as long as the others, prompting Naruto to come up with a very clever idea of using Rasengan to scatter away all of the rain ninjas. Thus once again, Naruto saves Sakura’s useless butt, but Sakura continues to not acknowledge it. 
Meanwhile on shore, Idate comes face to face with Aoi, who we find out later is Idate’s former sensei. Aoi continues to put the beatdown on Idate when Naruto and the gang catch up to him. Unfortunately, Aoi shows off his strength and puts down the 3 genins rather easily and leave them to deal with a distraught Idate. The 3 genins drag Idate into a cave to recover from their injuries, and Idate tells them the story about he was a former ninja of Konoha who was tricked by Aoi to steal the Raijin sword and a seal scroll of the 2nd Hokage in order to pass the Chunin exam. Naruto immediately connects with this story as he faced a similar situation to even become a ninja. Seeing their similarities prompts Naruto to try and inspire Idate to finish the race.
This episode also marks another change in the opener, which foreshadows the gang of Naruto, Shikamaru, Neiji, Choji, and Kiba as the next fearsome ninja team of Konoha. Also, we get a taste of the upcoming struggle between Sasuke and Naruto.
This post was written by...
Kungfucius – who has written 275 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the original founders, and a fan of long-running shounen series.
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